Angela Campbell84 said:But that’s just an ER doctor making a mistake. Sure, they can talk all they want, but you can't fake symptoms. If there aren't any serious signs, then why bother with all those intensive tests at the ER and rushing for a specialist appointment? There has to be some kind of indication, some suspicion, something... right? 😕
Take that fast heart rate thing, for example. If it's just from being worked up, that clears up in maybe thirty minutes. You won't even make it to the front of the line before it passes. But if it actually lasts and the person is shaking and dizzy... well, whatever. Let them send him.
Look, he was so "urgent" that they didn't even see him until eight hours after he walked in.😁
Do you seriously not realize how annoying and persistent some people can be? Sometimes it's just easier for doctors to write a referral than to deal with someone badgering them every few days. Unfortunately, I spend enough time sitting in waiting rooms to know. I hear the stories people tell each other; you've got groups of people who are basically living in the doctor's office every single week. Some are lonely, some are hypochondriacs, and some just love to mess around—to them, this is practically a sport. Someone who is actually sick? They try to avoid the doctor as much as possible because they're sick of the doctors, the appointments, and the endless testing.
Angela Campbell84 said:Look, I’m not okay with this. Let's just set the whole hedgehog thing aside for a second. It’s about the fact that someone can just slide through the cracks and score an appointment with a specialist by paying a few hundred bucks extra, while I’m stuck sitting around like an idiot waiting months because I didn't feel like trekking down to the ER just to play dumb.
I honestly think a lot of people would cough up the cash for a faster checkup, but they’ll never offer it. Why? Because they aren't interested in playing hero at the ER.
Doesn't feel particularly fair.
Angela Campbell84, you’re seeing how they cut corners now, but hey, it’s all free to them. They just waltz in, lie through their teeth, and run full diagnostic panels while regular people are stuck playing phone tag with doctors and waiting months for an appointment. Honestly, they have a massive leg up even on the specialists in the hospital wings because they get sent in straight from the ER.
This is exactly why I’m always losing my cool on this thread. You have regular people waiting forever for specialist appointments or basic diagnostic tests, while these geniuses decide to hit up the ER instead. They walk in, get everything done in a matter of hours, and call it a day. Take my situation, for example: I had all my cardiac testing finished and managed to snag a follow-up with a cardiologist within just a few days. Meanwhile, other people are calling ahead only to be told they'll be waiting a month or two just to see a specialist, depending on how backed up the clinic is.
If people actually paid for stuff like this, maybe things would change. But let's be real—most of the people doing this wouldn't even think to try if they knew there was a bill coming. Since it’s free right now, they just jump on it. They’ll process you, sure, so why wouldn't they?
Let’s say you don't have supplemental insurance and end up in the hospital; you'd pay $67 per day of stay. You'd cap out at maybe $2,000 or $1000. I bet it would work the same way here—there'd be a minimum and a maximum amount you could actually be charged.
Look, if you poke a hedgehog and rush to the ER, the doctor looks at you and says, "This isn't an emergency; go see your primary care physician." They might tell you that if you insist on being treated right there, it's going to cost you a fortune $167 because the base fee for an ER visit is so high. If you really want them digging around your leg at the ER and you have $167 extra cash lying around, fine, pay up and get seen. If not, do what anyone else in the civilized world does: go to your family doctor to get whatever you need.
From what I can gather about how this was supposed to work, doctors would do the initial assessment first. Once they decide if it's actually an emergency or not, they tell the patient, "Look, this isn't urgent." If the patient insists on getting more tests anyway, they pay out of pocket. It’d cost them a certain amount of cash. Honestly, I don't see why we'd charge everyone upfront just to issue refunds later; this way would be perfectly fine. I guarantee you, after a month of doing it this way—especially if the media starts picking up on it—the number of people clogging up the ERs would drop by half. Actual emergencies would still get treated like they always have, but everyone else? If they're just being difficult, they can pay for it.
That was a solid idea. I have no clue where they messed it up. This was one of those rare gems promised during the healthcare reform, right along with expanding outpatient clinics.
The whole situation with addicts, alcoholics, and the rest of that crowd is a whole other conversation entirely.
It’s honestly tough to draw a line in the sand and say, "Okay, these people are solely responsible for their own mess and they should pay the full price." I mean, what do we do about parents who refuse to vaccinate their kids? Or the folks who, out of pure ignorance, eat a poisonous mushroom and end up needing an emergency liver transplant because they trashed their organs? What about the riders out there hitting the road without helmets? Or the diabetics who completely ignore their blood sugar levels and just make their health issues ten times worse? Then you've got the group constantly drinking those "alternative" concoctions that basically destroy their bodies from the inside out. Etc.
If we start listing everyone who doesn't "deserve" free healthcare or shouldn't be paying lower premiums, we could go on forever. There are endless groups like that.
Angela Wright said:A good doctor will never half-ass their job, I guarantee you that. The fact is, things aren't working. How could they when a family doctor is reduced to seeing 50 different patients a day while a nurse struggles with printers and paperwork instead of doing the job she was actually trained for? And don't even get me started on the waiting lists for something trivial like a blood pressure monitor where you wait three months. By then, you'll have messed up the readings twenty times over. I think I'm going to head to the clinic down the street. 😉
A good doctor won't mess up until they're overwhelmed. Overload them with patients and even the best doctor is going to start cutting corners because there's simply no time to treat everyone properly.
I actually switched my immunologist for that exact reason. She’s an expert—arguably the best in the state—but what does it matter if she has a mountain of patients? You schedule an appointment and wait two or three months just to walk into the clinic and out again before you've even settled in. How can anyone give you quality care when the waiting room is packed and they can realistically only spend five to ten minutes with each person?
Angela Campbell84 said:Maybe it's because there aren't as many cases of 'unjustified ER visits'? Just a guess.
Listen, if those people on TV and in the news were lying when they said 70-80 percent of ER calls are unjustified, then I'm lying to you. I was stunned by how high that number was.
First, I was pissed off about why on earth they're going to charge for ER visits now. But once they started saying only 20 percent of visits are legitimate—and that the crowd showing up at the ER is just people who got a minor rash or spent two hours in the sun and got a bit of a sunburn—I lost all sympathy for them.
Because you seriously have to be crazy to wait 3, 4... 8 hours (yeah, I waited that long at the ER the other day, and it was a genuine emergency) just to get blood work or a urine test done because you can't be bothered to go in the morning and wait an hour for it.
Personally, I don't see the point in the ER treating a patient who clearly isn't an emergency, whether they pay or not.
Are you aware that there are people waiting months for tests much more serious than blood or urine? You might have to wait five months for an abdominal ultrasound or eight months for a brain MRI. Is it worth going to the ER and waiting 24 hours if it means getting it done? Because 24 hours is faster than eight months. If you go private, you'll cough up $2,000, so what's a few hours of sitting around?
And I don't like it either. It's disgusting that you have to wait forever for certain tests, but it's also because of people like this that we wait months for specific machines. We could all play dumb and act like this, but we don't.
Accusing people of making up random illnesses just doesn't make sense to me.
I’m not just throwing accusations around. Everything I’ve mentioned on this thread comes from people I actually know personally. Take this last guy—he's an extended family member. It hasn't even been three weeks. And no, he didn't have some gallbladder attack, and no kid didn't overindulge on burgers and cold fruit until he threw up and lost his lunch. He just wasn't happy that they couldn't find anything wrong with him after a few days, so he went back to the ER, whining about how his heart rate was too fast (which, by the way, spiked because he was running up and down the stairs just to prove it would spike). While he was at it, he badgered the staff at the ER until they gave him a referral for a cardiologist. So the big shot actually landed an emergency appointment within a couple of days, stealing a slot from someone else who’s probably waiting a month or two just to get seen. Meanwhile, every single test they ran on him at the ER showed his heart was perfectly fine.
I don't get how anyone can defend people like this. To me, these people are literally taking away our appointments and tests.
Angela Wright said:To sum it up: Peter, people are pigs. There will always be those who abuse the system and know exactly what they're doing, but there are also those who just don't know better, or are too scared to judge, or decided their issue was an emergency. There's such a thing as triage, and why it's used in some places but not others? That’s a question for the ER director. I still think it's better to overreact and play it safe than to deal with someone asking "where were you?" later... and there will always be idiots and wars. Everyone who chose to work with people just has to live with that.
I can't just accept that because someone close to me got screwed over by this exact thing. She went to the ER and got brushed off because they were slammed—thanks to idiots who use the emergency room for every little checkup instead of going to their primary care doctor—and she was sent home right before having a stroke.
I don't want someone I love to suffer tomorrow just because some guy is having his 150th panic attack of the month and camping out in the ER, or because he overate and has a little stomach ache, or caught a virus and decided a week later he's done with having a fever.
Same goes for if I get hit by a car; I don't want to wait 20 minutes for an ambulance because some moron called 911 and lied about her symptoms, hogging the vehicle while I'm bleeding out on the road waiting for help.
Angela Campbell84 said:But how exactly would they judge, and at what point, whether someone actually showed up with a "legitimate reason"?
The whole billing thing wasn't my idea. There was a decision made that anyone who isn't an emergency but shows up at the ER and insists on being seen gets slapped with a bill. Why that hasn't actually kicked in yet, I have no clue.
I think doctors have plenty of expertise and know-how to tell who’s legitimate and who isn't. For example, someone who spent three hours tanning and got a sunburn isn't an ER case; someone with blisters all over their body is. Someone having a seizure is an ER case; someone with a low-grade fever for a week who just decided to get every test possible done at the ER is not. Etc. For those who aren't emergencies, if they insist on an exam, you just hand them a bill—let them eat cake. If you want the ER to treat non-emergencies, pay up. I honestly think most people would decide they can just wait and go to their primary care doctor instead.
In the ER, you wait based on... urgency. 😁
If getting bloodwork done is a more serious situation than your condition, then yeah, you’ll wait while they process that patient first. If wheezing when coughing is less serious than your issue, you won't be waiting longer for them. So I don't see the problem.
Aha. So you think one person can somehow examine and assess everyone's level of urgency? If you've got one doctor for 20 or 30 people, tell me how he's supposed to examine everyone all at once?
Are you also okay with people calling 911 for every little thing and lying about their symptoms just to get an ambulance sent out, while you're sitting there waiting for that same ambulance to pick up your mom who just had a stroke or a kid who just got hit by a car? What's the difference between that and someone sitting in the ER waiting room getting tests done that should have been handled by their family doctor? Because of both groups, people suffer and die.
Angela Wright said:What if someone overindulges on greasy burgers, gets hit with a kidney stone, starts vomiting, the stone moves to the bile duct, ruptures, and bile leaks everywhere? I'm exaggerating here... look, things aren't just black and white. People simply aren't capable. Yesterday on some Facebook group, I was baffled by this woman who had already given birth prematurely, contracted beta-hemolytic infections, started bleeding around twelve o'clock, and now she's asking if it's an emergency or not—studying her pads, using rags, analyzing the amount, color, and texture... hello? In the end, she left because we kicked her out, and it turned out she wasn't actually fertile... but what else was there to do?! There’s a triage nurse. If it isn't an emergency, they'll give you a kick in the ass all the way to the local clinic. You shouldn't play doctor, and that goes both ways.
I’d say most people aren't idiots and can tell if something is urgent or not (I'm betting the pain from a kidney stone feels different than your usual stomach crap or vomiting). Another thing is that some people are just bored with their lives, so this is probably just their version of socializing. Then you have those who take the easy route because why follow general practice when you can get everything done at the ER, and then there are the ones who go fishing for doctors like that. 😁
I don't know, maybe I'm just cranky because I know people who got screwed because they were sent home from the ER. They were sent home specifically because every idiot shows up demanding tests, and then you end up with collateral damage when someone who actually needed hospitalization gets sent home instead. 😢
That’s why I’m actually hoping they eventually implement co-pays at the ER. At least if it’s a real emergency, you won't be stuck waiting forever just because some idiot can't tell the difference between a crisis and a scratch, or honestly, just doesn't give a damn about anyone else's time while they're running through the motions.
Look, Angela Wright, it’s not that they aren't capable—it's just that they don't give a damn. They can't be bothered to wait at their family doctor or deal with the usual referrals, so they just head straight to the ER. They want everything done all at once, get all their tests immediately, and walk out with a full report. I actually heard this story from someone in my extended family recently. This guy overindulged in some burgers and cold fruit, felt sick, had a bit of nausea and an upset stomach, so he went to the emergency room. They ran every single test right then and there, including a gastroscopy. Everything came back perfectly fine. A few days later, he's back again because he says his chest feels tight and his heart is racing. Well, yeah, his throat stings because they just did a gastroscopy on him, and his pulse was high because he was rushing up and down stairs. So, they run all the tests again, everything is normal, and he still managed to screw them over enough to get an urgent referral to a cardiologist. His EKG is fine, but now he gets to see a specialist in a week, while everyone else is waiting two or three months if they're lucky. 🙏 Honestly, forget it. She should charge them for this nonsense so they stop wasting everyone's time. One trip for something stupid and they'll never go back.
Of course, if you're in unbearable pain, vomiting twenty times, or running a 104 fever, sure, hit the ER. But if you just have a sore throat, a slight fever, or had diarrhea three times in a day, you have to be a little self-aware. You need to judge whether it's actually an emergency. Not to mention how these people are the first ones to throw a fit when they or their friends have to wait somewhere—like waiting months for a scan or a follow-up—while they themselves are clogging up places they don't belong.
From what I know about doctors and what I hear from people working in the field, I wouldn't blame them one bit if they started charging for half of this. We have public healthcare, so when you actually need something, you either wait like an idiot or pay out of pocket specifically because of people like this. It took me three months just to get an appointment with my immunologist for a check-up because there were no openings. During my visit, the doctor told me herself that on any given day, about 50 percent of her patients shouldn't even be there. They were sent by their primary care physicians just to fill space. Meanwhile, people like me, who actually need these follow-ups and belong in her clinic, are left waiting for months because nobody else can treat us.
You go to your primary care physician first. They’re the ones who order your labs and checkups. Unless you’re facing a genuine life-or-death crisis where you feel like you're dying, you don't just roll into the ER or call 911. You don't go to the emergency room for an ear infection. Not for a sunburn, either. Not for a fever or a stomach bug.
Kate Jones said:I mean, you *can* go to the ER if you want... 😕
I honestly hope we reach the day when the ER starts handing out bills to everyone who walks through the door without a legitimate reason (remember that whole debate about billing changes? I think it got stuck somewhere in Congress). Right now, people show up for nonsense and clog up the system. Then someone with a real emergency is stuck waiting because some genius decided Saturday night was the perfect time to realize they've been peeing blood for five days or running a fever for a week...
I heard someone say that 80 percent of ER visits and calls aren't even emergencies. Apparently, explaining that doesn't work. Just start hitting them in the wallet. People will learn pretty fast.
It could be an allergy, or maybe you’ve just got a canker sore flared up. Those things tend to swell, too—especially if it’s on the inside of your lip. I’ve had them feel like a little hard lump before.
Do you get these sores often? Honestly, for canker sores, making a strong sage tea and using it as a mouthwash 2 or 3 times a day works wonders. Just swish and spit. It’s a proven fix; they clear up fast. 👍
Avoid those foods you think are triggering the allergy (like milk or honey) until you actually sit down with a doctor and see what they have to say.
Maybe they just had some bad experiences in the past—not that this forum is ever short on patients—so now they’re just acting cynical. Honestly, the best move is to ignore posts like that. If they won't stop breathing down your neck, just block them and call it a day.
Kemik, what was the basis for your Hashimoto's diagnosis? Have you been stuck in hyperthyroidism for years now?
I suspect those issues you have with feeling freezing or overheated could definitely be thyroid-related since it messes with your body's ability to regulate temperature. For instance, whenever I step out from the AC into the intense heat, I get this suffocating sensation in my neck and my head starts spinning—it’s like my system just can't keep up with the sudden shift. That tightness hits right where the thyroid is.
As for the mosquito bites, I honestly think they've just gone rogue lately. I'm getting blisters like nothing I've ever seen before (and living in a place like Florida, we're used to mosquitoes being everywhere 😁 and I've been getting bitten for years), so I'd love to blame it on my own immune system overreacting because of all my autoimmune crap. But honestly, plenty of perfectly healthy people I know are dealing with massive welts lately too. I don't know if they're acting up because of all the pesticides being sprayed or if we're dealing with some kind of mutant hybrid species now.
I’m not usually the type to panic. I generally prefer to sit back and wait to see how things play out or how long a situation lasts before jumping in. But honestly? If something like this actually happened to me, I wouldn't spend a single second overthinking my next move. I’d head straight to the ER.
Parkinson’s and those types of conditions are progressive, chronic illnesses. They develop over a set period and get worse over time. You don't just wake up one morning suddenly losing motor control without having dealt with some kind of warning signs first.
Get yourself to the ER right now. What kind of doctor are you talking about? You can't just sit around waiting five days when things are this bad. They aren't going to turn you away at the emergency room, and this isn't something that (can) wait.
Look, having some discharge that’s clear or whitish? That’s totally normal. But everything else? In my book, that’s definitely not.
Regarding the Pap smear—mine came back fine (mixed flora, no signs of inflammation) back when I was actually dealing with an ovarian infection. So, take any Pap results with a massive grain of salt when you're dealing with actual inflammation. It’s designed to catch cervical changes; it doesn't necessarily flag an infection. If I were you, I’d push for swabs. My own doctor dragged me along for months, insisting my Pap was fine and telling me it was "normal" for my ovaries to ache occasionally. He just had me cycling through every prescription antifungal imaginable—I think I tried everything available at the pharmacy—until he finally realized I wasn't going to drop it. He eventually ran the swabs, and sure enough, it was an ovarian infection, and I had to go on antibiotics.
If your gut says something is wrong, don't let them brush you off.